Steel Soviet Union

Even Malashenko, who is accustomed to driving KV1 heavy tanks, has to admit that at least in terms of maneuverability and the reliability of the entire power and transmission structure, the T34 medium tank's incredible attributes in this aspect are indeed better than that of the KV1 heavy tank. It's more than a little bit better than KV1. Strictly speaking, the two are not even in the same dimension.

After abandoning railway maneuvers and rushing all the way to the destination, not one of the 42 T34 tanks broke down due to a power system failure. If such a long-distance maneuver was completed on its own on a KV1 heavy tank, Malashenko conservatively estimated that it would wait until it ran. After arriving at the destination, at least half of it must be done.

The poor transmission system inherited from the Hongqi tractor has always been the most criticized failure point on the KV1 heavy tank.

"These T34s are still as reliable as before, Comrade Commander, it would be great if our new heavy tanks could be as reliable and durable as the T34s."

Malashenko, who had just jumped off the turret, took off his black leather gloves and patted the dust on them. The words from Iushkin next to him clearly won Malashenko's approval.

"The design team has already considered this issue. Just wait, Iushkin. It won't be long before you can drive a new heavy tank with maneuverability that is as reliable as the T34. I guarantee you."

I blurted it out but couldn't help but feel a little worried. The increasingly bad war situation now further illustrates that the absolute quality advantage of the KV1 heavy tank at the beginning of its development is now being lost little by little due to the continuous upgrading of German equipment.

The continuous innovation of many anti-tank weapons, including new anti-tank guns, has overwhelmed the KV1's originally reliable armor. The consistently bad problems in the transmission system and power structure are inherent design flaws that cannot be completely solved. This is urgent for the upcoming counterattack. For the Soviet tank force that required long-range and long-span strategic mobility, this was a rather fatal flaw.

"I hope Ke Jing can do it faster this time. With my extravagant Stalin series, it should be two years ahead of schedule."

Malashenko, who was murmuring in his heart, was only thinking about the questions in his mind, but was completely unaware of the two footsteps striding behind him.

"Comrade Malashenko, welcome to your arrival. Your support is simply too important for our division!"

The sudden sound of words coming from behind him brought Malashenko's thoughts back to reality. A slightly surprised Malashenko looked back and saw two faces walking towards him quickly. .

"Introduction, Comrade Malashenko, I am Colonel ****, the commander of the 218th Infantry Division, and this is Lieutenant Colonel Zelenkov, the political commissar of our division. On behalf of all the comrades of our division, I would like to thank you again for coming. "

He almost forgot the last time he spoke polite words in the military like he does now. Malashenko, who had taken off his gloves to reveal a pair of slightly rough hands, immediately stretched his right hand forward with a smile on his face.

"It's my job, Comrade ****, hello, Comrade Zelenkov."

After the brief polite exchange of salutes and handshakes, political commissar Zelenkov, who had only heard of his name but had never met him before, took over the right to speak and asked questions first.

"Comrade Malashenko, with all due respect, how many troops did you bring to the Tula front this time? We need to calculate how many available troops can be used on the German defense lines."

It's obviously not polite to ask such an abrupt question to friendly troops who have just arrived. However, the German defense line, which is like an unyielding wall of the enemy in front of them, is as helpless as ants on a hot pot. The troops suffered more than half of the casualties but still failed to do anything. The dire situation of making only half an inch of progress no longer allowed political commissar Zelinkoff to exchange pleasantries.

Political Commissar Zelenkov's somewhat abrupt question did not take it too seriously. Malashenko, who turned his head and thought for a moment, immediately gave the answer.

"This time I brought the vanguard. There are a total of 42 T3457 tanks and 10 captured German Panzer III tanks. Comrade Zelenkov, the large force of our First Guards Heavy Tank Breakthrough Regiment is still halfway through. , 30 KV1 heavy tanks are the absolute main force we rely on, but their strategic mobility is slightly insufficient, and it will take some time before they can reach the front line."

Rumors about Malashenko have long mentioned that this young lieutenant colonel, who is favored by General Zhukov, is a guy who has a large establishment of the new Guards Tank Regiment, and even the supreme leader Comrade Stalin has publicly praised him. Political Commissar Zelenkov, who expected that Malashenko would have a strong force, was overjoyed when he heard this.

"Great, Comrade Division Commander! The troops Comrade Malashenko brought this time are not just a tank regiment, it is simply more than a tank brigade! Besides, our tanks are better than those German garbage tanks. How much, with the addition of Comrade Malashenko, it is only a matter of time before we take down the defense line of the Germans on the opposite side! "

When he first formed the 1st Guards Heavy Tank Breakthrough Regiment, Zhukov, who wanted to use it as a fire-fighting force directly under the front army, deliberately planned a large organization sequence that was far superior to the same level of troops and submitted it to his loving father Stalin for his review. .

Such a large-scale mobilization of strategic resources to form a large special tank force requires the approval of loving father Stalin during wartime. The super-large organization of the First Guards Heavy Tank Breakthrough Regiment has already been stretched to the extreme. For the Soviet tank arsenal at this critical juncture, the equipment quantity was almost equivalent to that of three other regiment-level tank units, so they had to be cautious.

Realizing that his previous distrust and suspicion of Zhukov was a very wrong approach, Stalin, who is currently adhering to the principle of disregarding past suspicions, is almost as satisfied as possible with any request made by Zhukov.

Stalin signed his name on the file concerning the formation of the First Heavy Tank Breakthrough Regiment and gave it the title of "Guards" as the first batch of "Guards" and approved it. Stalin once again met Zhukov's reasonable request, but he still had one thing to puzzle over.

"I'm very curious, Zhukov, this is obviously equivalent to the strength of a tank division, why do you deliberately use regiment-level organization to form troops."

Facing the confusion of his loving father Comrade Stalin, Zhukov, who was not only creating an elite firefighting force for his own strategic intentions, but also paving the way for Malashenko, a young man whom he admired, immediately responded.

"The reason is very simple, Comrade Stalin. The Germans may pay attention to the movements of a Guards tank division during intelligence monitoring, but a Guards tank regiment is not considered worthy of being placed in the eyes of these arrogant Germans. The strategic support force in the eyes.”